Trump Loses Travel Ban Appeal, Will Most Likely Go To Supreme Court

A federal appeals court ruled 10-3 that the administration’s “revised” travel decree did not pass muster.

A federal appeals court slapped down the latest iteration of President Trump’s travel ban, saying it “drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination,” according to the New York Times.

The decision came down from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Virigina, with a vote of 10 to 3. Unsurprisingly the three justices who voted no are Republican appointees.

The ban was yet another a setback for the president who immediately tried to restrict travel for those from seven predominantly Muslim countries soon after taking office in January. The executive order was met with scores of protests throughout the nation and was ultimately struck down by courts as unconstitutional.

The president then submitted a less rigorous and revised ban which was struck down yet again. The Fourth Circuit on Thursday weighed in on that appeal.

Chief Judge Roger Gregory of the Fourth said the order was still the product of religious hostility, and violates the First Amendment which promises freedom of religion. In writing the majority opinion, he referenced Trump’s rhetoric on the campaign trail—which the administration has argued was made before he was president and should not be taken into consideration. Judge Gregory wasn’t having it.

“Then-candidate Trump’s campaign statements reveal that on numerous occasions, he expressed anti-Muslim sentiment, as well as his intent, if elected, to ban Muslims from the United States,” Judge Gregory wrote.

Trump’s only recourse now is to accept defeat or take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.